In the insert dedicated to Marc Ona Essangui within the report devoted to Gabon, to Ali Bongo really, in the latest edition of the magazine “Jeune Afrique”, the reporter, Alain Faujas, about the actions of the Gabonese activist, awkwardly quotes Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, the great French diplomat of between the 18th and the 19th century, who said: "Everything that is excessive is insignificant!"

The problem for "Jeune Afrique" is that one can give any connotation to any quote, by taking it out of its original context. So it is important to re-establish quotes in their original context. What therefore was being spoken by the Prince de Talleyrand when he made that remark?

To answer that question, one must first position the reader about who that character was. The Prince de Talleyrand belonged to the old French nobility and was as the Italian Niccolo Machiavelli, a character who from the shadows, modeled the way politics is practiced not only in his country but beyond and for centuries after his death. De Talleyrand was primarily a situationist and this is recognized by academics who have studied him. He supported and betrayed everyone: Kings, Bonaparte, the Church, the Revolution, the relations between France and England, France and the United States of America etc… It is now recognized that de Talleyrand largely monetized his long political career. French contemporary scholars have a nice formula to characterize who de Talleyrand was; they say he was a "corrupt genius."

So where does this quote from the Prince de Talleyrand that "Jeune Afrique" used to describe Marc Ona Essangui, originates? Well dear readers, this quote comes from a stormy exchange which was transcribed by Napoleon’s secretaries, between the Emperor and his diplomat. After yet another dirty trick and treachery, Napoleon who said of that character "he always turned his jacket on the right side," summoned the diplomat to come into his office and spoke violently to him, saying: "Mr. de Talleyrand, you’re shit in a silk stocking!” A way of telling him that under the external refinement of an aristocrat (the silk stockings), de Talleyrand was a small despicable vermin (crap). To what de Talleyrand, upset, replied: "Sir, you are being excessive and what is excessive is insignificant!"

Dear readers, you understand in this exchange that the Prince de Talleyrand, facing an angry Napoleon wanted to bring him back to his best feelings by flattering his ego and telling him that his position in society did not lend itself to excessive insults. That as emperor, insulting a diplomat was disproportionate. When you are in possession of this historical context, it is astonishing that "Jeune Afrique" would cite this quote by Prince de Talleyrand, to invite Marc Ona Essangui to put water in his wine or to have a more friendly way of protesting against the regime. No, the context in Gabon does not lend itself to a fair comparison with the sentence pronounced against the insults of Napoleon, by the Prince de Talleyrand.

Firstly in terms of excess in Gabon, no one equals Ali Bongo and his family. We will not list here for the umpteenth time all sordid financial, moral, etc.., affairs in which the Bongos wallow.

Secondly, given the gravity of the situation in Gabon, Marc Ona Essangui has all the reasons to condemn, and sometimes sharply, the arbitrary, foolish and insensed actions of those in power in Gabon. To find Marc Ona Essangui is too much, is to be nostalgic of a Gabon in which citizens accept to be stepped on, it is to encourage that the Gabonese society remains frozen in place; that its ideas should not evolve. No, for things to move in the right direction, it takes people with a firm grip and aggressiveness, two characteristics of Marc Ona Essangui that confront those who think they will forever be able to subjugate citizens with impunity.

The activism of Marc Ona Essangui and other members of the civil society is a necessary imperative for a better Gabon in the future. No invitation to conviviality, even cryptically in "Jeune Afrique" would contradict this truth in the end! This will be the verdict of history, that the current people in power like it or not!

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